Rating: 
Summary: Humanity's Last Adventure. The Anti-2001.
Review: The first several hundred pages of Stephen Baxter's epic, "Titan", details the demise of manned space exploration and the descent of America into Right-Wing hell. None of it would have been half as depressing as I found it had not events in reality begun to imitate the course of those in the novel, but this work is nonetheless a masterpiece of hard science-fiction. Baxter squeezes in every juicy scientific detail he possibly can to magnificent effect, and pointing out the technical shortcomings of artificial gravity from centrifugal spin was the cherry on the sunday. "Titan" exudes reality so thoroughly throughout its pages, you'll be reaching for the Prozac a third of the way through, and sighing relief that it isn't actually real once you've finished, but this story is so incredible you are absolutely REQUIRED to read it if you consider yourself a serious science-fiction reader. If for nothing else, read it as a cautionary tale, it will still be worth the adventure even if you hope it never comes true.
Rating: 
Summary: It can be a real chore.
Review: This was my first Baxter book and it may be little while before I return for another.My interest in the book peaked due to the current Cassini mission and I was actually looking for a Sci-Fi book that dealt with a Titan Colony. So I grabbed this one. The book starts of very slow and stays that way. Baxter can be descriptive but many times he will bore you with the details. The characters are weak 2-d stereotypes: from the war mongering Air force General to the Ex-moon astronaut reminiscing about the good ole days to the wimpy neurotic science geek to the extremist American president, it can be one cliché after another. Frankly I was a bit put-off by the political tone of the book, but trudged on anyways. Baxter beats you over the head with his view that the world is on a self destructive path and is being lead down that road by America. You can sense a bit of joy in the descriptiveness of his cataclysmic doomsday scenario as these soulless characters get wiped out. There is a twist to the ending, some hope injected to an otherwise bleak read and makes you wonder if it was part of the story or requested by the editor. The book offers a detailed account of what it will take to travel the solar system with the current off the shelf technology. The descriptions of Titan are vivid and at times allow you to connect. But, just when the books seems interesting Mr. Baxter's disdain for the current state of affairs and even humans in general peaks through and you return to the grind of the book. It's too bad, in the end the weak plot and characters can't carry this interesting subject.
Rating:
Summary: Bogged Down in Angst
Review: Being a fan of Baxter's more fanciful works, I approached this book with a vague reluctance, as I didn't hold a lot of excitement for a Baxter novel in a more down-to-earth setting. Unfortunately, my inital misgivings seemed to been justified. I think, most of all, I found the author's angst-ridden and pessimistic view of humanity to drag the entire novel down to the point of nearly drowning out all book's good qualities. While I applaud any sci-fi author that portrays humanity's future as something far less then the utopia portrayed in Star Trek, Baxter seems to possess a closet desire for humanity's collective stupidity and ignorance to truimph and deservedly destroy us, while the indirect actions of a few humans end up creating a more enlightened race far more worthy of inheriting the universe (This sentiment seems to be implied in some of his other works as well). Of particular irritation is some of the author's naive views on American culture and politics. While this can be attributed, in part, to living on the other side of the pond, his portrayal of this seems based on a lack of a clear understanding of the aforementioned. America's final president, for example, takes the form of a man bent on destroying the progress of science, imposing religion in schools, and is apparently your standard Southern bigot. (say what you will about Bush Jr.'s nauseating social conservatism and general cluelessness - Baxter's caricature would never propose a return to the Moon or a trip to Mars, for example). In short, take Pat Buchanan on steroids. The subsequent chaos, fracture, and pre-Enlightenment, anti-science hysteria that befalls the nation(s) is even more absurd (though oddly amusing, as one wonders if Baxter actually considers this paranoid supposition a possibility). Some of the reviewers here seem to have been spooked by this portrayal, but even the general unease of the past 3 years couldn't create the situation in this book, IMO. Despite all this, it does have some things going for it. His descriptions and observations on the inner workings and politics of NASA are very much spot-on (this is where Baxter's pessimism is merited), particularly in light of the book's eery fate of the Shuttle Columbia. The years-long voyage to Titan - and the eventual landing and exploration of the moon - are easily the best written parts of the book. One really gets a sense of just how grueling and tiresome space travel can be (though, perhaps not surprising, if one were to retrofit a Earth orbit-only craft). His descriptions of the varied landscapes of Titan are probably the book's shining moment - the mountain climb being almost inspiring. The characters embarking on this journey are generally well-written, but occasionally fall into soap opera silliness from time to time. The goal of the mission - to search for life on Titan - may not be accurate, however. The general sentiment of the Cassini-Huygens team seem to regard life on the moon as not a high possibility (Not like the Jupiter's Europa, anyway). Still, its provided a good vehicle for creating the adventure. In the end, Titan kind of reminds me of Clarke's final Rama book. You occasionally find a some diamonds in the rough, but its bogged down by annoying generalizations and and cartoonish stereotypes. If you want a better read in the same type of setting, check out Baxter's Moonseed. Definitely a superior book.
Rating:
Summary: Believable story with many unexpected twists
Review: I'm a big fan of alternate histories and hard sci-fi set in the not too far future, where the science is based on facts and the story rings true, and on that Titan delivers!
Many reviewers pointed out that Titan is a depressing book, where things only go from bad to worse. I didn't see things that way at all. I saw it more as a faithful reflection of what things may have been like should a manned spaced mission to Titan have really existed. Yes, bad things happen in this story, but isn't it what makes it more realistic and believable? If you like stories where the hero always wins and you *know* that nothing really bad can ever happen to any of the main characters - a book with few surprises - then you indeed won't enjoy Titan.
Very typical of Baxter's "what if" scenarios, the idea of the book is based on the real life Cassini-Huygens space mission to Saturn and Titan launched in 1997. Only in Baxter's story, the spacecraft - a remodeled space shuttle - carries humans.
The beginning of the book, while introducing the astronauts that will be part of the mission, explains the different technical and political aspects and issues attached to it. Sprinkled with human error and emotions in those confined quarters, the actual 7-year voyage to Titan is very believable, and appropriately builds up the anticipation as years go by.
Will they successfully land on Titan? What will they find there? Does Earth still care? What will happen to them? These questions, and many more, will keep you turning the pages.
The ending will surprise you.
Titan is a fantastic read that will keep you thinking for a while!
Rating:
Summary: Quite good!
Review: There's something very rewarding about Titan. It's more measured in pace than most books I've read, but it's written with a careful attention to detail, a broad (and sometimes frightening) view of the future, and real originality. This is one to take your time with and enjoy.
Titan features an ensemble cast of characters - all of which have flaws. It doesn't dwell on them individually for too long (which some reviewers here fault it for). But for the story it's trying to tell, breadth should trump depth. I enjoyed the range of individuals present; their combined observations give the story a lot more detail and make it more complete.
Some readers dislike the course that the world takes in this near-future book. Frankly, I'm chilled by Baxter's apparent prescience. Of course the incident with the Columbia at the beginning of the book is pretty unsettling - I'm sure Baxter wishes he'd written the scene with a different shuttle. But the course America takes over the novel is also chilling, and not too far from our current trajectory. We may not have an administration that has eschewed space exploration, but the Maclachlan character has a few other similarities with the present president that should give us pause.
The details of the mission to Titan are fascinating, even if occasionally disgusting. Baxter really did his homework on the effects of prolonged space travel on human physiology - the book is really remarkable in that regard.
The drama in this book takes a little while to build, but I was hooked by its portrayal of a space program in deep malaise, and by the desperate struggle of the astronauts, once sent into space. Titan builds to a tremendous conclusion - one worth waiting for. Be patient with this book - you will not regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreadful book
Review: Niall McAuley wrote this review and posted it on rec.arts.sf.written:
The last really dreadful book I read all the way to the end was Baxter's _Titan_.
The story started off like another of Baxter's books which was readable enough: _Voyage_.
Then it crashed and burned. Then it climbed out and stumbled away from the wreck, which exploded and sprayed burning fuel all over it. Then it dragged itself along the ground, it's fingernails breaking as it left a trail of blood along the path. Long after it should have died it just kept going.
Then a hyena came up and started chewing on it while it kept inching along.
That sort of thing has a sort of horrible fascination, I kept turning the pages, knowing that it couldn't get worse, yet it *did* get worse, and worse, and worse.
Then an anvil fell on it.
Rating:
Summary: Made me want to shoot myself
Review: Possibly one of the most dreary, depressing, and negative books I have ever read. By the last fourth of the book, nearly everything that could go wrong has, in fact, gone wrong, and I found myself wishing the main characters would go ahead and die. A short Spielberg-meets-Kubrick in AI resurrection at the end fails to forgive the otherwise bleak conclusion. Worth a read, I suppose, if you are in the mood to wallow in pity.
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